Obama Received a $101k Campaign Contribution from AIG

winnar111

Banned
Mar 10, 2008
2,847
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http://www.redstate.com/califo...101332-bonus-from-aig/



Senator Barack Obama received a $101,332 bonus from American International Group in the form of political contributions according to Opensecrets.org. The two biggest Congressional recipients of bonuses from the A.I.G. are - Senators Chris Dodd and Senator Barack Obama.

The A.I.G. Financial Products affiliate of A.I.G. gave out $136,928, the most of any AIG affiliate, in the 2008 cycle. I would note that A.I.G.?s financial products division is the unit that wrote trillions of dollars? worth of credit-default swaps and ?misjudged? the risk.

The Washington Post reports a ?mob effect? at A.I.G financial products division:

A tidal wave of public outrage over bonus payments swamped American International Group yesterday. Hired guards stood watch outside the suburban Connecticut offices of AIG Financial Products, the division whose exotic derivatives brought the insurance giant to the brink of collapse last year. Inside, death threats and angry letters flooded e-mail inboxes. Irate callers lit up the phone lines. Senior managers submitted their resignations. Some employees didn?t show up at all.

With the anger and rage that is being exhibited against A.I.G., perhaps the bonuses Obama received from A.I.G. explain Obama?s A.I.G crocodile tears.

Now that the Wall street Journal has revealed that A.I.G. paid bonuses of $1 million or more to 73 employees, it?s time to ask if recipients of A.I.G. ?bonuses,? including President Obama, will give back what now ought to be taxpayer money?


Color me surprised. No wonder Dodd and Obama are so cozy with them and ignored these bonuses for so long.


Your untrue and deliberately misleading thread title has been corrected for you. Please do not make such a basic "mistake" again. This is your one warning.

Perknose
Senior AT Mod
 

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
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I saw earlier today a graphic and a lot of republicans received money from AIG, too. As long as lobbyists control government, this is what will happen, so the news is not surprising.
 

AreaCode707

Lifer
Sep 21, 2001
18,447
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Meh. He probably got equal or larger contributions from plenty of other companies that are being shown no favoritism. I for one don't think this is really playing into his decision making. How much was his overall total campaign contributions? Enough to make this a drop in the bucket, I'm sure. I'm no lover of Obama, didn't vote for him and I disagree with his politics but I don't think this is revolutionary and relevant information about clandestine dealings where Obama is now doing payback. This is just everyday run of the mill politics.

So let's talk about putting a campaign spending cap in place, regardless of the source of the funds. I suggest 15 mil!
 

chess9

Elite member
Apr 15, 2000
7,748
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There's no way that these contributions CANNOT pollute the democratic processes. That's why campaign finance reform is so important. But, Republicans have been the biggest opponents of reform in the past. McCain is still hated by many Republicans for his efforts with Russ Feingold in that regard.

Anyway, almost all of the Congress has been bought and paid for by someone, and Wall Street and the bankers are near the top of the list of contributors.

If you run for Congress you have to be a whore.

-Robert
 

jpeyton

Moderator in SFF, Notebooks, Pre-Built/Barebones
Moderator
Aug 23, 2003
25,375
142
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How is a political contribution for the 2008 Presidential Election a "bonus"?

EDIT: They gave $60,000 to McCain for his 2008 campaign as well. Quite a lot considering his campaign was on life support since conception.
 

Slew Foot

Lifer
Sep 22, 2005
12,379
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I cant say Im surprised, its widely known that banks getting bailouts were huge contributors to both Bush and Obama.

 

DealMonkey

Lifer
Nov 25, 2001
13,136
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I thought the official GOP/conservative talking point on political contributions is that they're protected by free speech rights? Unless you can prove quid pro quo, this is par for the course...both parties enjoy corporate contributions. Hardly a "bonus" though. Nice red state touch. :roll:

As long as everyone's talking today about AIG's payouts to its executives and foreign banks, let's remember the payouts AIG has made over the years to politicians. In the last 20 years American International Group (AIG) has contributed more than $9 million to federal candidates and parties through PAC and individual contributions. That's enough to rank AIG on OpenSecrets.org's Heavy Hitters list, which profiles the top 100 contributors of all time.

Over time, AIG hasn't shown an especially partisan streak, splitting evenly the $9.3 million it has contributed since 1989. In the last election cycle, though, 68 percent of contributions associated with the company went to Democrats. Two senators who chair committees charged with overseeing AIG and the insurance industry, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), are among the top recipients of AIG contributions. Baucus chairs the Senate Finance Committee and has collected more money from AIG in his congressional career than from any other company--$91,000. And with more than $280,000, AIG has been the fourth largest contributor to Dodd, who chairs the Senate's banking committee. President Obama and his rival in last year's election, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), are also high on the list of top recipients.

http://www.opensecrets.org/new...ll-aig-payouts-we.html

For the record, I wish these corporate contributions would stop, especially when made to officials who are supposed to be overseeing said corporations. Still, I sort of agree with Republicans with regards to it being a free speech issue. It's hard to ratify the concern that these contributions influence legislators with the desire to see free speech as vibrant as possible.
 

boomerang

Lifer
Jun 19, 2000
18,883
641
126
Originally posted by: AreaCode707
Meh. He probably got equal or larger contributions from plenty of other companies that are being shown no favoritism. I for one don't think this is really playing into his decision making. How much was his overall total campaign contributions? Enough to make this a drop in the bucket, I'm sure. I'm no lover of Obama, didn't vote for him and I disagree with his politics but I don't think this is revolutionary and relevant information about clandestine dealings where Obama is now doing payback. This is just everyday run of the mill politics.

So let's talk about putting a campaign spending cap in place, regardless of the source of the funds. I suggest 15 mil!
And shorten the campaign timeframe down to 4 months. I've been promoting this for years.
 

Hacp

Lifer
Jun 8, 2005
13,923
2
81
He needs to feed his family! Look at him and his daughters; they're so thin! Plus, organic food costs 5x as much as normal people food.
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
48,920
46
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What'd Obama raise, $600 million? $100k is a drop in the bucket. I doubt Obama feels beholden to anyone. :roll:
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
Over time, AIG hasn't shown an especially partisan streak, splitting evenly the $9.3 million it has contributed since 1989.

"Republicans took $4.65 million in bribez!!!!" </mouthfoam>
 

OrByte

Diamond Member
Jul 21, 2000
9,303
144
106
wait are we really talking about political campaign contributions or an actual "bonus??"

wtf OP...your thread should be locked if you cant get the topic straight...as it stands right now its a flat out lie.

or I'm just confused.
 

Slick5150

Diamond Member
Nov 10, 2001
8,760
3
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Originally posted by: OrByte
wait are we really talking about political campaign contributions or an actual "bonus??"

wtf OP...your thread should be locked if you cant get the topic straight...as it stands right now its a flat out lie.

or I'm just confused.

First time in a Winnar111 thread? He pretty much thrives on misrepresenting the truth. Or outright lying. whichever works.
 

her209

No Lifer
Oct 11, 2000
56,336
11
0
Originally posted by: Slick5150
Originally posted by: OrByte
wait are we really talking about political campaign contributions or an actual "bonus??"

wtf OP...your thread should be locked if you cant get the topic straight...as it stands right now its a flat out lie.

or I'm just confused.
First time in a Winnar111 thread? He pretty much thrives on misrepresenting the truth. Or outright lying. whichever works.
To be fair, that's the title of the article. But then again, it is redstate.com.
 

blahblah99

Platinum Member
Oct 10, 2000
2,689
0
0
Originally posted by: Slick5150
Originally posted by: OrByte
wait are we really talking about political campaign contributions or an actual "bonus??"

wtf OP...your thread should be locked if you cant get the topic straight...as it stands right now its a flat out lie.

or I'm just confused.

First time in a Winnar111 thread? He pretty much thrives on misrepresenting the truth. Or outright lying. whichever works.

Yup, posts by WInnar111 is synonymous with posts by theonion.com.
 

alchemize

Lifer
Mar 24, 2000
11,486
0
0
Originally posted by: blahblah99
Originally posted by: Slick5150
Originally posted by: OrByte
wait are we really talking about political campaign contributions or an actual "bonus??"

wtf OP...your thread should be locked if you cant get the topic straight...as it stands right now its a flat out lie.

or I'm just confused.

First time in a Winnar111 thread? He pretty much thrives on misrepresenting the truth. Or outright lying. whichever works.

Yup, posts by WInnar111 is synonymous with posts by theonion.com.

LOL here come the leftie whiners...

ban him! ban him!
/tissue
 

Budmantom

Lifer
Aug 17, 2002
13,103
1
81
Originally posted by: mugs
What'd Obama raise, $600 million? $100k is a drop in the bucket. I doubt Obama feels beholden to anyone. :roll:


The man is not beholden to anybody look at the war he has waged on earmarks and he is so pissed at AIG that Geithner put them into the original bailout and in the last 2 weeks he only gave them ANOTHER 30 BILLION, you can just see the disappointment in his eyes.

This really is hope and change we can believe in.